DIY HALLOWEEN COSTUME- HEDY LAMARR (ZIEGFELD GIRLS) 🌟

Oh how I adore Hedy Lamarr! I’ve been captivated with her ever since I was a child and watched her in Sampson & Delilah. I thought she was absolutely stunning and as I got older learned that she was not just an Hollywood actor but also an Inventor.

I shared a bit about her in my Instagram series #VintageVixenWendesdays, so I decided to include two of those slides to give you some background context of who she was.

For this costume, I decided to recreate one of Hedy’s iconic looks from the 1941 movie Ziegfeld Girl where she plays the character Sandra Kolter. The film also stared Judy Garland, Lana Turner and James Stuart and you can watch a clip of Hedy in this exquisite look right here.

As you know, my costumes are usually DIY and this one was no different. I started out with a simple vintage white dress, layered with a start print mesh fabric, white heels and my DIY star crown, wings and cuffs. Keep reading for the full tutorial below.

SUPPLIES:

Jewelry making wire (I used 18 gauge)

Florist tape

Washi tape (not pictured)

Headband

Glitter Stars

Butterfly wings

Scissors, Glue Gun, Wire cutters

Jewelry making pliers (to bend & secure wire)

STEP 1

Begin by removing your stars from the string if they’re in the form of a garland.

Cut about 6 inch pieces of wire or the length you desire.

STEP 2

Using your jewelry pliers, wrap and secure the wire in place on your headband.

STEP 3

Next, you’ll want to attach your stars using the sandwich method which I sent basically securing two stars to each the wire with glue, the glue being in between the two layers of stars.

STEP 4

Once your stars are in place and you like the way your crown looks, secure each piece of wire at the base with florist tape then cover that green tape with silver washi tape.

STEP 5

I didn’t get a chance to photograph a step by step for the star halo that falls behind Hedy but basically I used my Goddaughter’s butterfly wings and flipped them upside down so the smaller part of the wings would be upright.

I then cut long lengths of the wire and fed them through the center of the wings. Some made circles and others were free standing lengths. I then glued those pieces of wire to the frame wherever I felt needed reinforcement and then secured lots of stars to the the wire and frame using my sandwich method.

The wrist bangles were a last minute addition to the costume and I used the same method as I did for the crown.

p.s. Be sure to check out the Nextflix documentary about Hedy. It’s calledBombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story.